Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Hard Wake Up

By the time Mana had found it in her to open her eyes it was dark. She was in a dimly lit hospital ward, a surrounding all too familiar to her as she had a somewhat notable memory of her stay there after the finals of the Chuunin Exams, not to mention the time the fight against the Imarizu left her hospitalized as well.

Upon her awakening a bunch of people gathered around her, some were worried, for some their worries were alleviated by Mana waking up. It was surprising to see Thumb, Muriya, and his family, Shira all gather around her with various thoughts to voice about Mana's awakening.

"You still owe me a spar," Yushijin mumbled. He was sitting on an empty bed farther away, in a whole other corner of the ward. The young man stood up and approached the magician, the circle of people moved aside letting the young man in. "I may have been a bit of a dick to you during the Exams but seeing you alive does make me glad."

"Why is everyone here?" Mana spoke in a weak voice, even if her body did feel a bit numb and sore in places, for the first time that week she felt well rested and her mind was finally flowing clearly.

"I figured that after those guys thought they'd disposed of you, they'd go for your crew. I carried them around me so that I could have them within my sword's reach if the need to protect them came." Yushijin sighed, glancing at the very odd bunch.

"I had two green pills on me when I arrived in Shukuba. Figured you'd make it a tough fight before coming with me so one was for me when you kicked my ass too much for it not to be a pain to move around. The second one was for you if I accidentally went too far. Given how you had a gaping hole where the overdose of food pills hits you, figured the odds of you surviving the ordeal were present, if slim." Yushijin explained. He tapped his ninja kit pouch as he did so.

It did not matter that Mana's sides ached like all living hell. It did not matter that she felt nauseous inside and every moment felt like the moment when she would inevitably throw out all of the gut that the food pills helped her close up and heal, Mana jumped up on her bottom and kissed Yushijin in gratitude. She could feel all the chakra signatures covering their faces and walking away slightly, looking through the window or otherwise occupying themselves. Had they not been in danger, all of them would have left the ward wearing the discomfort of seeing such a passionate expression of gratitude on their faces.

"A "thanks" would've been just fine. As I've said, I may have been a bit hotheaded during the Chuunin Exams and let Erumo be just as hotheaded alongside me when usually I chill her out." Yushijin shoved his hand inside the rich mane of his hair, rubbing it against the back of his head. Shyness was not usually an emotion one would attribute to the young man but now he struggled with not feeling a bit embarrassed and unsure of what was going on.

"You had all the reasons to dislike me and even hate me. I am grateful to you for looking out for these people even when you did not have to." Mana bowed her head, almost letting it slam into her own knees and bed cover.

"Erm... Okay... So I'm pretty sure that Konoha's Sorceress can sense that chakra thingy anyways so... Maybe we can all leave the room now for you two to catch up..." Thumb pointed everyone to the door, assisting the cringing children of her ex-colleague outside the ward. "We could all use a breather, there's only so much hospital stink one can muster anyway," she declared before slamming the door behind her as loud as she could.

"Look..." Yushijin shrugged his shoulders after sitting down on another empty bed, it was surprising to see the whole ward being cleared out but, given how the Shukuba Security had recently saved the entire town budget, not entirely outside the realm of possibility. "You're cool and all that... I mean the jury's still out as to which one of us is cooler..."